CALDWELL, Idaho –
Nate Bruneel scored 19 points and
Jake Bruner added a double-double, leading the College of Idaho to a conference-opening 72-63 victory over Warner Pacific inside the J.A. Albertson Activities Center.
The Coyotes (8-3, 1-0 CCC) made 45-percent of their 3-point attempts on the night and held a dominating 42-31 edge on the glass.
C of I made their first six 3-pointers on the evening – as
Ricardo Time canned three early triples, as the Yotes jumped out to a 19-10 lead just five minutes into the contest.
The Knights (4-5, 0-1) chipped away at the deficit, with a Kendall Watson lay-up late in the half cutting the margin to 33-29. The Coyotes ended the frame with a flurry, as Charles Elzie splashed a trey and Bruneel converted a driving runner at the buzzer to give the hosts a 9-point lead.
The Yotes opened the second half on a 6-0 run, capped by an alley-oop dunk by Bruneel, to extend the lead to 44-29, only to see WPU get 3's from Kadeem Strickland and Kaleb Tompkins, part of an 11-2 run, to pull the visitors within 46-40.
C of I would counter, as Bruner scored on the block to start a run and Bruneel ended it with a dunk – reestablishing a 58-43 lead.
WPU made one final push, as 3's from Tompkins and Morris Bethea cut the lead to 65-61 with two minutes left – only to have
Derek Wadsworth drain a head-of-the-key 3-pointer for the Coyotes – as C of I scored seven of the final nine points of the game.
Bruner had a big night, scoring 11 points, adding 11 rebounds and five assists. Time had nine points and five rebounds;
Connor Desaulniers scored seven points with 11 rebounds and three blocks; with Wadsworth and
Ivory Miles-Williams each scoring eight.
Tompkins led WPU with 15 points, with Strickland and Miles Brown scoring 11 and Watson adding 10 points and 11 rebounds. The Knights made 35-percent of their field goals, but connected on 12 3-pointers.
C of I closes out the weekend tomorrow, hosting Multnomah at 7:30 p.m.
